Device foe silk spinning machines



(No Model.)

L. CAMEL.

THREAD FORMING DEVICE FOR SILK SPINfiING MACHINES. N0. 361,129. PatentedApr. 12, 1887.

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@Z v i UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

LEON OAMEL, OF LYONS, FRANCE.

THREAD-FORMING DEVICE FOR SILK-SPINNING MACHINES.

V SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 361,129, dated April12, 1887. Application filed April 26, 1886. Serial No. 200,132. (N 0model.) Patented in France February 22, 1886, No. 174,820.

To all whom, it may concern).-

Be it known that I, LEON GAMEL, a citizen of the Republic of France,residing at Lyons, in said Republic, have invented anew and usefulImprovement in Thread-Forming Devices for Silk-Spinning Machines, (forwhich I have obtained a patent in France, No. 174, 320, dated February22, 1886,) of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings.

This invention consists in a novel device, hereinafter described andclaimed, for the purpose of mechanically throwing the ends of the cocoonfibers in cocoon-spinning.

. Of all the operations in cocoon-spinning, the most delicate is that ofthrowing the ends of the cocoon fibers for the purpose of addingto thethread which is'being spun the fiber from a new cocoon whenever a cocoongives out or is accidentally detached. To throw an end, the spinnerseizes before her the free end of a cocoon fiber. She takes it up on herindexfinger and breaks off a portion to give it a proper length. Then,by a delicate movement of the hand and finger, she throws thethusshortened end upon the collection of fibers which are being spun,and which by their ascending movement carry it along with them and causeit to combine with them to formthe thread of raw silk. Greatskill,dexterity,and practice are necessary for this operation. Thespinner must break the end in such a manner as to retain upon her fingerbut a very short piece of fiber, for if it is long this piece willgather itself up more or less in kinks upon the thread and producethereon a nap, which is a grave defect. If the piece is too short itwill be more difficult to throw to make it take hold, andconsequently,if it misses, the thread continues to be formed, but willbe too thin in places and irregular-a defect as serious as that firstmentioned. Moreover, aninexpert spinner by failing to throw the endsproperly causes weak places in the thread and breakages, whichnecessitate stopping to piece up. From this it results that she makesless thread, and, besides obtaining a product of inferior qualityproduces great waste of a costly raw material. I

It may be seen from what has been stated that in the spinning fromcocoons in the usual way the success depends essentially on theskillfulness of hand-work, and that therefore the apprenticeships of theoperatives are long and costly. It may then be seen how desirable Lthread; second,of preventing the pieces of fiber which are broken ofi?from the ends, to make them the properlength for throwing,from beingcaught upon the thread,where it would produce kinks ornap; third, ofavoiding friction upon the thread by keeping it out of contact with allrotating surfaces, and only allowing it to pass through fixed guides inorder to prevent the fraying and the detachment of the united fiber endsand the breakageswhich are produced when a cocoon jumps against aturning-guide, or when the windingswift is stopped for knotting or forany other reason while thethrowing device continues to rotate; fourth,of being simple and inexpensive, easily managed, and easily kept inorder.

In short, the object of my invention is to obtain an apparatus whichwill throw better than the most skillful spinner, and which may beattended to by less skillful help, and one that will'permitcocoonspinning in countries wherein it has not heretofore beenpracticed.

Figure 1 in the accompanying drawings represents a vertical section ofmy invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line A B of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line C D of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 isa plan view of a toothed wheel and its stop, which will be hereinafterdescribed.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

The supportS is fixed above a basin in such a manner that the lower partof the tube V, which it carries,will be in the plane occupied by theordinary agate. This support comprises two forks arranged one above theother and receiving loosely within them the metallic tube V, on whichare firmly secured a pulley,

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P, and a lenticular disk, L. The disk L has in its periphery one, orpreferably several, notches, a a. It should be placed at a certaindistance from the lower end of the tube V, and leave a eertainlength offree tube between it and the lower fork of the support S. Adriving-band, M N, drives the pulley P, and consequently the tube V andthe disk L.

T is a central tube arranged within the tube V, but not in contacttherewith,and suspended from the top of the support S by means of astar-like flange, t, the teeth of which engage under the head of ascrew, a, secured in the top of the support S, preventing this centraltube from turning with the exterior tube, V, and from being raised bythe act of drawing the thread into or through said tube T. At the lowerend of this tube T is placed an agate bushing, a. At its upper end is aferrule, b, of glass, porcelain, platinum, or agate. The bushing a isapplied upon a small metal bushing, 0, having a taper bore for theguiding of the drawing-hook, and the said bushing a is secured in thetube by burring over the end of the tube.

The driving-band M N is the only means of retaining the rotary tube Vagainst the bearings formed by the back parts of the forks, the tubethus turning very easily with the slightest drop of oil, and evenwithout any other lubrication than the little water which is naturallythrown upon it during the operation. The effort of the band M Nis thenvery inconsiderable in producing the regular rotation of the pulley M,tube V, and disk L, which rotate at the rate of twelve hundred orfifteen hundred revolutions a minute, and even at a higher velocity, ifdesired.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The thread of silk beingformed by the union of a number of cocoon fibers and being passedthrough the tube T, then conducted to the swift, in order to add to thegroup of fibers the fiber from a new cocoon, it is sulficient to bringthe free end of the fiber of this cocoon near the disk L, by simplypassing the finger which holds it near the portion of the tube V,between the disk L and the lower fork of the support S. The lens L,rotating with great velocity, striking and quickly seizing this end,which is very slightly stretched at an intermediate point in its lengthbetween the finger of the spinner and the cocoon from which it comes,folds it in two parts, which, under this action, both tend to assume ahorizontal position in such manner that the first part rolls itself uponand attaches itself to the tube above the disk, while the second partrolls itself upon and attaches itself to the portion of the tube belowthe disk, the cocoon by its weight being caused to yield its fiber insuch manner that the latter, after having made two or three revolutionsupon the lower portion of the tube, is thrown upon the thread orcollection of fibers which is ascending in the same manner that it hadpreviously been thrown by the disk upon the tube-that is to say, almosthorizontally, if its speed of rotation is sufficient.

It may be understood that the rising. collection of fibers being met bythis violently-projeeted fiber end produces upon the latter the effectof a fixed obstacle. The fiber end breaks on this obstacle or between itand the edge of the tube Vthat is to say, in a space which cannot be inany case greater than the distance between the edge of the tube V andthe hole in the agate bushing aabout from two to three millimeters. Theextremity of the fiber of the cocoon is caught under another fiber,which connects it with the thread, as I have observed by inspection witha microscope. The throwing is thus very rapid, it never fails, and it isperfect, as the end is always thrown short, and consequentlyparticularly well connected to the thread; hence no loose projectingfibers on the surface of the thread are caused by this throwing, which,owing to this fact, without speaking of the eertainty and rapidity, isincomparably better than the throwing effected by any spinner, whatevermay be her dexterity.

The debris which accumulates upon the disk and upon the tube above andbelow the disk, shows with what perfection and with what certainty myapparatus operates to mechanically throw the ends of the cocoon fiber.

The characteristic points of my new device for throwing are found-First, in the position of the disk L with relation to the lower edge ofthe tube V, to which it is attached. In effect this position of the diskis determined by the speed with which the apparatus rotates. The greaterthis speed the more the fiber end caught tends to double itself near thedisk. Then the shorter may be the portion of the tube below the lens,and vice versa. It is necessary that this caught end does not escapethis portion of the tube; but, on the contrary, that it meets it andfixes itself thereto by about one and one-half to two coils. It iscertain that with an exterior tube, V, of six or seven millimeters indiameter, and disk L, of twenty to twenty-five millimeters, a speed oftwelve hundred revolutions a minute, the end will be forcibly thrownupon the lower part of the tube; that it will then have but four to fivemillimeters of length and will fix itself on the tube by two .or threecoils; that thence it will be thrown almost horizontally near theorifice of the agate bushing a,- that it will be broken in this shortspace, and that the end, perfectly attached to the rising thread, willnot have a length more than two or three millimeters at most. It may beseen from what has been just stated that the position of the disk L uponthe tube V- that is to say, the spare portion of the tube below thedisk-should be calculated according to the speed of rotation and thediameters of the disk and of the tube; that my apparatus, constructedaccording to the principles of physical laws well known and established,operates with mathematical precision. The cocoonfiber end, which isdelivered to it without any particular precaution or specialpreparation, is seized and shortened by breaking off the extremity in aprecise point. It preserves very carefully. on one side the debris,which should not be taken upon the thread and which would foul it, andit feeds the thread without loss of time and without the leasthesitation or possible default. The end of the new cocoon fiber is, bymy invention, made shorter than it is possible for the most adroitspinner to make, for it may be assured that the said end will neverexceed two or three millimeters in length if the construction of theapparatus and its speed of rotation have been calculated to obtain thisprecise result.

Second, in a centrally-fixed tube, T, isolated from the exteriorrevolving tube, thus preventing all friction, and consequently allfraying of the silk. Moreover, this central tube, being isolated fromthe movement of rotation, permits the stoppage of the winding reel orswift and the take-up movement of the thread for knotting or any otherpurpose without any danger of the thread kinking at the entering of theagate bushing and afterward breaking when it is again set in motion. Inshort, it prevents the accidents of breakage which are produced when thecocoon rises and encounters a rotating tube. 1

Third, in the mounting of the exterior tube in forked bearings in suchmanner thatit turns withlittle resistanceand lubrication; that it may beeasily and rapidly removed by slipping of the band M Nand as quicklyreplaced after the interior and exterior cleaning of the two tubes.

1 will remark that without in any way ch an ging the principles of myinvention I may change the form of the disk L, which, instead of beinglenticular, may-be approximate toasphere compared with a sort ofcircular shears.

\VhatI claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the fixed tube, the

exterior rotatory tube, means for rotating the of said tubes being inapproximately the same horizontal plane, and the notched disk carried bysaid rotatory tube, the latter projecting a short distance below theouter edge of said disk, substantially as described.

3." The combination of the support, the outer tube rotating in bearingstherein, the. stationary tube within but not in contact with the outertube, the filament-throwing device carried by the outer tube, and meansfor rotating the latter, substantially as described.

. 4. The combination of the supportprovided with forked bearings, therotatory tube supported in said bearings and readily removabletherefrom, the filament-throwing device carried by said tube, and theinner stationary tube, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the support having two forked bearings, therotatory tube supported in said bearings, the filament-throwing devicefixed to said tube ashort distance from the end, there being a length offree tube between it and the lower end of said tube and between it andthe lower fork, means for rotating said tube, and the inner stationarytube, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the support, the rotatory tube supported inbearings therein, the filament-throwing device carried by said tube, theinner tube suspended from said support by a star-like flange, and thescrew fixed to said support, under the head of which the said flangeengages, preventing said tube from turning or moving longitudinally, butadmitting its ready removal when desired, substantially as-described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

LEON CAMEL.

Witnesses: 1

F. J. RAYMON, LoUIs JUBIEN.

